Okay, most of my friends and readers are aware that along with my fanfictions I also am working on original fictions that I'm hoping to get published as soon as I have something completed. I get assailed by plunnies at completely random and inopportune moments- as I am pretty sure happens to most of us. About 2 months ago while walking to the store this name just pops into my head, the kind of name that makes you stop and go "Oh my gods, this has an amazing ring to it!" It was the sort of name you can build a series around.

After kicking around some ideas with a couple of the girls from my writing circle to breathe life into the character bearing said amazing name, I finally had a basic story idea beginning to flesh itself out. I started doing research for terms and words in the language of the area/time frame where the story has its roots, begin writing out any scenes that come into my head; basic creative process stuff.

A few days ago I stumble across a penname in the fanfiction circles that's the same name as the one I had thought of. Well, the spelling of at least part of the name is different, the different spelling does even change the meaning of part of the name, but phonetically it's the same. Some of you are saying right now "Collective Unconscious, these things happen all the time." See, I know I've never read this author's work, we've never had any interaction, I'd never seen or heard the name before tripping over it that day.

Some people might be saying, "Go ahead with what you were working on, it's just an innocent coincidence." Some are saying, "Are you positive you never came across the name before?" Actually, yes, I have a very good memory for names and if it had seemed familiar at all I would have tried to root out the source of the familiarity so that I could be certain.

My dilemna is . . . what should I do about this? Should I try altering part of the name and see if it has the same feel to it? Should I just go ahead with what I'm working on since it was just a coincidence? Should I try to contact the author, explain what's going on and hope she understands and doesn't take issue with it? And if that last one, how do I even begin to phrase it?

See, the problem is that knowing now that there is such a similar, pre-existing, name, it doesn't really feel right to not do something about it, but at the same time I don't know if maybe I'm just taking this too seriously, ya know, thinking too hard about it and it isn't something that should be so stressed over.

I can understand what you are saying, but I think you are over-thinking this. To want to inform this person that you are using a very similar name would be like any future anime wanting to inform the owners of Inuyasha that they were going to use the name Kagome. If the only similarity is that the name is close, then I wouldn't worry too much over it.
Just my opinion.

Hi Freya,

Just to clarify, your character has a name that is super awesome, and you found someone with a penname as the same? If that is the case, then the two are unrelated. However, it is clearly something that disturbs you which can easily affect your own opinion of your story. That being said, I think that the best thing to do would be to contact the author. Though I do believe it is unnecessary, I think that you probably will always have that looming in the back of your mind as the story progresses. If I were in your position, I will simply explain the situation as it is.

Hello super great name person,
You might find this a little odd, but I wanted to bring something to your attention. I have been writing a story and I have used insert fabulous name. As you can see it bears a striking resemblence to your penname. Before I delve too deeply into this story, I wanted to make you aware of this coincidence. I had though of the name and built the story around it. At the time of its conception, I had been unaware of its resemblance to your name.

And so on and so on. This is just my opinion though. I do not believe there is a right or wrong here. Do what makes makes your mind at ease.

~Caleesci

lmao- "Hello super great name person", thank you Caleesci, that really brought a smile to my face

You hit the nail right on the head- thought up the name, found out later someone has it, only in a different spelling, as their penname :/.

Thanks for the input. I'm going to try to work at letting it go, and if I find that I absolutely can't than I'll reach out to the author and explain things (using the very helpful template you've provided ).

It's a name not a persona or story scene. Like titles that you will see repeated over and over on the bookshelves, there are very few totally unique names. I saw a title on a book just yesterday that was the same as one of my fan-fictions done several years ago. Since this is an original work, which I presume you would be submitting to magazine or book publishers, there should not be a problem unless the name is trademarked. I would definitely advise NOT contacting this person about their pen name. Should your work be financially successful, that could potentially give an opening leading to legal problems (like authors cite as their reasons for not reading unsolicited manuscripts from their fans).

Isn't this why we have warnings like:

This work is an entirely fictional piece based on fictional characters, places, and events. Any resemblance to actual persons or events is purely coincidental.


Yes?

I think you're over thinking this situation. It's a pen name. Unless it is somehow an extremely rare name that they are the only one who is using... I just can't see any reason to get too concerned.

RebaJean wrote:
It's a name not a persona or story scene. Like titles that you will see repeated over and over on the bookshelves, there are very few totally unique names. I saw a title on a book just yesterday that was the same as one of my fan-fictions done several years ago. Since this is an original work, which I presume you would be submitting to magazine or book publishers, there should not be a problem unless the name is trademarked. I would definitely advise NOT contacting this person about their pen name. Should your work be financially successful, that could potentially give an opening leading to legal problems (like authors cite as their reasons for not reading unsolicited manuscripts from their fans).

Huh . . . that's a good point, I hadn't thought of that one. Well, sort of, but not in that particular angle. My concern was more offending this person or having them think I ripped something off from them, it really hadn't occurred to think that a person might abuse what is intended as a gesture of concern and respect that way.

Hi,

Caleesci had a good point that since it bothers you you should reach out to the author with the fabulous name.

I'd like to make another one. Document everything. Make notes on your process, record names and dates and mention the people that you spoke to about your characters. You never know when you may need to prove anything.

Most likely, you'll never have to use them. But, just in case, they're good to have.

zandrellia wrote:
Isn't this why we have warnings like:

This work is an entirely fictional piece based on fictional characters, places, and events. Any resemblance to actual persons or events is purely coincidental.


Yes?

Lol, you have a point. I just don't like to be a feather-ruffler, no matter how unintentionally, if I can help it.

@Sarasama1- Oh, I save everything. I'm in different parts of the state or country from the members of my writing circle, so we communicate largely via email and FB messages, so I put every story-related email into a save file, even before this, 'cause my work is up on fictionpress, DA and my own site, now, and I'm always very paranoid about that. While it gives the security of things like time stamps, site publication dates and well, witnesses to the fact that this work belongs to me, I'm still very wary of someone trying to steal my work. Had a fanfiction plagiarized once *grumbles and shudders* it was not a pleasant experience.